Usagi's Dilemma (Part 2 of 2)
by A Writer of Fact and Fiction
Summary: Continued from Part 1...


**hContinued from Part 1...**

 **Chapter 6:**

Forty minutes of spirited driving later, Hino Rei stopped her convertible at a red traffic signal on a narrow side street within the small city of Nerima. "Does any of this scenery look familiar to you, Minako-chan?" she prompted. "Anything at all?"

The girl sitting to her left peered curiously at the buildings and signs surrounding the red Mercedes. She slowly shook her head. "No... not really."

"How about you, Mako-chan?" Usagi pointed at a nearby grocery store. "See that? That's the place where you and Yuji always go to buy groceries when you spend the weekends here together."

"It is?"

The brunette stared at the colorful building until the traffic light flickered green and Rei slowly pulled away. "Gomen. Nothing familiar about it at all, Usagi-chan. And why should there be? I'm sure I've never visited Nerima before, not until today."

The girl at the wheel caught Usagi's eye in her mirror. "This isn't good. I was hoping that coming here would trigger some recollection of their real past lives."

"Keep going, Rei-chan. We'll be at Mako-chan's house in a few more minutes. Maybe seeing it will be just what they need to jog their memories."

"I hope so. If that doesn't work, the only other thing we can do is try to find Taro and Yuji." The sixteen-year-old miko smiled as she remembered, "What was the funny name my Yuuichirou gave the old place again? 'Mako-chan's Senshi Hideaway' or something?"

"Hai, that's it, Rei-chan. And Minako calls it her Palace of Love-Love!" Usagi laughed. "Very appropriate too! It's where you and Mako-chan were intimate with your guys for the very first time, Minako-chan."

"And uncountable times since then" Rei smiled at the happy blonde beside her.

"Minna, I'm beginning to have even more doubts about this whole thing" Makoto murmured as they left Nerima. "It all feels so impossible. So... _unreal_."

Sitting quietly to Usagi's left, Ami sadly began to realize that her earlier happiness at the thought of being permanently reunited with Urawa Ryo was perhaps too premature.

"Cheer up, Mako-chan" Usagi urged the brunette. "When you finally see your old country home again, I'm _sure_ it'll bring back lots of great memories. It's a really nice house too. You and Yuji planted pretty flowers all around the front and dug a little vegetable garden out back. It has a nice big kitchen and even a piano!"

"Those flowers were the same ones baka Minako crushed with her car one night" Rei muttered. "Remember, Usagi-chan? That evening you took _forever_ to drive here in Mamoru's car, and when you finally made it you stupidly locked the keys inside? Baka!"

"I'd rather not talk about _that,_ if you don't mind" Usagi miffed. "It was just a teeny tiny little mistake. You're not perfect either, Rei-chan!"

"I may not be perfect, but at least I'm normal."

"Hai! Normal and grumpy! That's what you are! Hmph!"

"Only because you always seem to dream up new and annoying ways to cause trouble!" the miko responded with a grumble. "For me and everyone else in Tokyo."

"Quiet, Rei-chan! Hush up and drive!" The blonde sulked quietly to herself until they were several kilometers out of town. "When we cross over that next little hill there, you'll be able to see your house ahead on the right, Mako-chan."

Upon cresting the grade Rei eased up on the accelerator, her deep indigo eyes widening in surprise. "Nani?"

As Usagi had predicted, a two-storey home did indeed appear off in the distance, but the miko knew instantly that all was not as it should be. Driving closer, she spotted a tangle of tall weeds growing where a carefully tended flowerbed once stood, and the building's walls appeared desperately in need of a fresh coat of paint.

 _"That's_ my house?" Makoto asked in growing disbelief. "It looks kinda run down."

"It shouldn't" the puzzled miko answered, her voice grim. "It certainly wasn't like this yesterday."

Drawing nearer, Usagi gasped "What's wrong with the windows? They're all covered with wood or something!"

"They've been boarded up, Usagi-chan." Rei slowed her Mercedes, turning onto the rutted gravel driveway. "Minna, I think we should stop and investigate here before we go any further. This place is an absolute mess!"

Minako twisted in her seat and gave the brunette her most disapproving frown. "Tsk tsk! _Shame_ on you, Mako-chan! Letting your house get all neglected like this is the _last_ thing I would have expected from a neat freak like you!"

The raven-haired teen braked to a stop and she and the other girls climbed out, standing and staring at the dilapidated structure and unkempt grounds surrounding it. "It can't be this way" Rei breathed. "It just _can't_." Feeling strangely compelled to take a closer look, she briskly walked around the building to its rear with Usagi and Ami following.

"There appears to be a great deal of soot surrounding those upstairs windows, Rei-chan" Ami observed. "Almost as though there was a fire at some point in time."

"Hai" the miko nodded quietly. "There was."

Usagi shivered despite the late-afternoon warmth and bright sunshine. "I don't like the look of this, Rei-chan. The house is a total wreck, there's no sign of any flowers or vegetable garden, and" she pointed, "there's even a big crack in that wall!"

"Damage from the earthquake that no one bothered to repair, Usagi-chan" she replied. Returning to the front steps, they found Makoto and Minako reading a small sign that had been securely fastened beside the door.

"This notice says the house is condemned" Makoto told the other girls. "Are you _sure_ we're at the right place? It's nothing at all like Usagi's glowing description. In fact, it's a complete dump."

"It wasn't like this last weekend when we were all here watching the eclipse, Mako-chan" Usagi insisted. "I don't understand! What could have happened to it in just one night?"

"I want to look inside" the brunette announced. She reached for the door, its paint faded and peeling, and tried its tarnished brass handle. Finding it locked, Makoto muttered "no problem" and firmly thumped her shoulder against the weatherbeaten wood. After three attempts, the lock reluctantly yielded to her pressure and the door creaked ominously as it swung open on rusting hinges.

"Minna, I'm not going in there!" Minako fretted. "No way! It could be filled with mice or icky bugs!"

"Then don't." Makoto shoved the door fully out of her way and took a few tentative steps into the dark, foreboding structure. Rei followed the taller girl down a short hallway and into a musty living room, only to discover a sofa, several chairs and other furniture shrouded beneath white sheets and an accompanying thick layer of dust and grime. Dense cobwebs crisscrossed the mouth of a cold fireplace as well as every other corner the girls could see, the faded walls surrounding them scarcely visible in the gloom. The old Kawai piano Rei had played from time to time still sat, abandoned and forgotten against one wall, exactly where she had expected it to be. Nearby, the same staircase Minako had slid down to meet her Taro last New Year's Eve curved upward to the second floor, its well-worn steps vanishing into unseen blackness beyond.

Rei noticed at once an unpleasant odor of charred and rotting wood that hung heavy in the still air. A shiver travelled down the young miko's spine.

"This old house hasn't been lived in for _ages_ " Makoto sadly murmured to herself. "Usagi was wrong after all."

"No. She wasn't wrong, Mako-chan. _This_ is wrong." Rei grasped the brunette's arm. "We've seen enough for now. Let's get out of here."

The pair rejoined their friends in daylight and Makoto pulled the door shut, disappointment clouding her pretty face. "I thought it all sounded too good to be true. And it is."

"Rei-chan, do you think it's still a good idea to keep going to Yuji and Taro's home?" Usagi nervously asked. "I'm feeling really scared! What if they..."

The miko thought for a moment before deciding, "We've come this far, Usagi-chan. For better or worse, let's finish our journey."

"Hai! Take me to my Taro, Rei-chan!" Minako insisted, her heart still filled with hope and desire. "I want to meet my fiancee now! _Immediately!_ No more wasting time here at this creepy horrible old house!" She clambered into the Mercedes and beckoned impatiently to the other girls. "Hurry up, minna! My future husband isn't going to wait for me forever!"

After the other teens joined her, Rei carefully backed her convertible out of the driveway. After taking a last unnerving glance at the abandoned and rapidly decaying structure, she and her friends slowly set off, continuing down an eerily silent and deserted road toward the Ito residence.

* * *

 **Chapter 7:**

"I'm so close to my mystery man I can _feel_ him!" a smiling Aino Minako enthused. She tapped her chest. "Right here, deep inside my love-filled heart! Come on, Rei-chan! _Speed up!"_ She impatiently unfastened her safety belt, grasped the top edge of the windshield and pulled herself up until she stood nearly vertical in the moving car. Her long blonde hair trailed back in the wind. _"I'm almost there, Taro my love!"_

Rei's left hand reached over and grabbed the girl's school fuku, tugging her firmly back into her seat. "Sit down, baka! And put your seat belt on! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Gomen, Rei-chan!" Minako obiediently refastened the restraining strap but her bubbly optimism remained. "I'm just seconds away from finally meeting the wonderful, tall, handsome guy who proposed to me! _I'm so excited!_ Aren't you excited, Mako-chan?"

"Why should I be?" Makoto grumbled. Her tone was more melancholy than the other girls had ever heard from the spirited brunette. "Look at that condemned hovel we just left. If you want my opinion, that Taro person isn't waiting for you, Minako-chan. No one is. It's all just Usagi's imagination working overtime, maybe a weird dream she had after eating all those cookies, or... something."

"Don't be silly! If it really was a dream, how do you explain this fancy car we're riding in? Or Rei's engagement ring? Or that funny note Ami found in her room? _How?"_

"I honestly don't know" her friend admitted, falling silent once more. The girl sat pondering Minako's question until the Mercedes had carried her and her friends another three kilometres, gliding past scenic rolling hills and brown fallow fields towards Minako's happy rendezvous with her one and only true love.

"Minna, there's the Ito house!" Usagi blurted, thrusting her arm toward it. "And this time it looks exactly like I expected it to! Well, it almost does."

"Almost, Usagi-chan?" Despite all the unexplainable changes she had observed in Hino Rei's life, the brunette sitting beside her still harboured deep doubts within. "Why almost?"

"It's nearly identical to the way it should look, except for one small detail, Mako-chan" Rei explained. "The color of the window sills and the fence are different. They were dark red before, but now they're grey."

"Maybe Taro painted them recently!" Minako suggested. "Hai, that's it! He painted the window sill thingies because I bet he's so handy with manly stuff like that!" Spotting the outline of a person reclining in a wicker chair near the front door she gasped, "There's someone sitting on the front porch! _Is it? Could it be?"_ The excited blonde leaned forward, straining mightily against her seat belt, and squinted through the glare the late-day sun cast across the windshield. "Nani? Is _that_ my Taro? I hope not! He looks really ancient!"

"That definitely isn't him, Minako-chan" Usagi reassured her as they drew nearer, frowning as she added "And not his father either." She glanced questioningly at Rei, wondering if the miko was thinking the same thing she was.

The girl behind the wheel said nothing, instead pulling into the driveway and slipping her convertible into park as the grey-haired old man, whom the miko judged to be somewhere in his late-seventies, arose from his chair on the porch and ambled over to her side of the car.

"Konnichiwa, girls" he greeted them in a friendly tone. "Are you lost?"

 _"We're looking for boys!"_ Minako blurted in reply, eliciting a groan from the girl in the driver's seat.

The man chuckled heartily. "Heh heh. I suppose you are, at your age!"

Usagi spoke up, "Hajimemashite. We're here to meet the Ito family. Ito Taro and his younger brother Yuji, to be exact. Are they at home?"

"Ito, huh? Can't help you there" the old man replied. "There's no one by that name living at this address, young lady. Just me and my wife. We do have a son, but he's a lot older than you and living in Kobe."

"I _knew_ it" Makoto muttered. "Too good to be true."

The bright smile began to vanish from Minako's face. "But... there has to be some mistake! They _do_ live here! They _must!"_

"Afraid not, miss. This house has been my home for... oh, about fifteen years now. Moved out here from Tokyo after I retired back in '81."

"Taro _really_ isn't here?" Minako's blue eyes began to well up with tears and she turned on Usagi. "I believed you, Usagi-chan! I _trusted_ you! Where is he? _Where is the boy you promised who loves me?_ And Mako-chan's boy too? _Tell me, Usagi-chan! Tell me this instant!"_

"I... have no idea" the other blonde softly replied. "Gomen, Minako-chan. I don't know where they are. Everything is completely messed up. Taro should be living here, and Yuji too, but..."

"We're very sorry to have bothered you, sir" Rei apologized to the gentleman for interrupting his peaceful afternoon. She shifted into reverse, but before leaving she asked him, "Um... if I may... there's an abandoned house a few kilometers east of here. Are you familiar with it?"

"Hai" he nodded. "The old Fujiwara place. Been empty for a couple of years now, ever since the elderly lady who lived there passed away." He paused to scratch the back of his neck. "Terrible shame, too. A real tragedy. She was living alone and perished in a bathroom fire. An earthquake shorted out the wiring, or so I was told. If it wasn't for all that water flooding everywhere from the burst pipes, the whole house would've burned down."

"Oh dear! That's horrific!" Ami exclaimed, while Rei felt a strong shudder course through her body. For the briefest of instants she again relived that fateful summer day in her mind's eye. Four walls closing in around her, the heat from the smouldering fire, and the taste of raw fear that came from staring certain death in the face. The miko gave her head a savage shake, mentally willing the frightening memory to return to its hiding place somewhere in the furthest recesses of her mind.

"I hear they're supposed to be tearing the place down soon" the old man added.

"Arigatou." Still shaken, Rei bid him farewell and reversed onto the street. She began driving back the way they had come, her mind reeling at this tragic and unexpected news.

Ami had spoken little since their arrival in Nerima, but now looked at Usagi through moist blue eyes and softly uttered "Ryo and I...together...still just a dream."

Inside the convertible, three young broken hearts felt as though the wonderful gift of true love had been offered to them, only to be cruelly snatched away at the last second.

"No Taro..." Minako began to softly weep. "No future husband... no love..."

Makoto sat in complete silence, staring out at the passing hills and fields while trying to imagine her supposed fiancee, this Ito Yuji boy that Usagi's description had somehow made seem so real.

"Usagi-chan!" Rei abruptly snapped. "You said Pluto called you on her communicator earlier. Have you tried calling her back?"

"I can't, Rei-chan! There's only enough buttons on it for you and the other younger Senshi, not for her! Nothing for Haruka or Michiru either!"

"That's right" Rei grudgingly admitted. "Mine's the same way." Having run out of options, she instead concentrated on her driving, hearing only the purr of the engine and faint sobbing from a deeply distraught and utterly heartbroken Aino Minako.

A few moments later, Makoto broke her silence. "Minna, how about this idea? We stop wasting any more time around here, head straight back to Tokyo and forget this entire miserable adventure ever happened. I for one have had more than enough dashed hopes and broken dreams in my life for today."

"Hai" the young miko sighed. "There isn't much else we can do here, Mako-chan. If anything. I'm so very sorry."

"Rei-chan, would you mind putting the top up?" Minako asked, her voice quivering and cheeks wet with the tracks of her bitter tears. "I don't want anyone else to see me crying when we go back through Nerima." She turned away to stare blankly at a passing field, her pretty face a mask of despair. "It feels like something inside of me just... died."

"I will" her friend nodded understandingly. "I need to stop to do it though. It'll only take a minute."

As Rei brought her convertible to a halt at the side of the road, she noticed that they were again within sight of what had been, until today at least, Makoto's well-kept and much-loved country home. "Usagi-chan, watch your hair when I raise the top this time. I don't want it getting caught again."

"I'll be careful" the blonde promised. "Ami-chan, let me tuck my hair between- _Ami-chan, are you ok? You look sick!"_

The blue-haired teen's blue eyes were unfocused and the twin orbs quickly squeezed themselves shut. Her head began to slump forward, and just when Usagi feared her friend had fainted, the girl abruptly reopened her eyes and sat up. "Whew! That was rather strange! For a moment there, I felt quite ill."

"Are you feeling better now, Ami-chan?" Do you need to see a doctor?" Rei's finger hesitated at the button controlling the folding top.

"I... I think I'm fine now, Rei-chan" Ami nodded. "Whatever that was, it seems to have passed as quickly as it came. I _will_ certainly remember to mention it to my mother when we... arrive..." The girl's sudden gasp startled her friends. " _Minna! I just saw someone walk out through the front door of the house! And then go back inside!"_

Five pairs of eyes stared at the building as one. "I didn't notice anyone, Ami-chan" Usagi cautiously spoke. "Are you _sure?"_

"Quite positive, Usagi-chan! He stood out on the front step for just a moment, almost as though he was looking for something or someone, then reentered the building."

"Can you describe the person?" Rei pressed. "What did he look like?"

"I _think_ so. It was definitely a boy, my own age or perhaps slightly older. He had brown hair and was wearing a dark green shirt and... possibly denim jeans. I'm sorry, I didn't get a really clear view of his face. We're too far away and it all happened so quickly."

Rei turned her head to look at Usagi and their eyes locked, both girls speaking at once.

 _"Yuji!"_

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

Rei slammed the pedal down, setting off with a squeal of spinning tires to close the remaining distance between the girls and the old house as quickly as possible. "This day is becoming more insane and unbelievable with every passing second!"

Minako quickly dabbed her cheeks dry, allowing a small trace of her usual bubbly optimism to return along with her smile. "If Ami is right this means there's still a chance, Mako-chan! A chance for us and Ami to find our true loves again! _"_

"If you say so. I didn't see anyone at the house just now" Makoto answered, her tone still glum. She sighed, "But I guess it can't hurt to dream just a little more."

Less than thirty seconds later the bright red Mercedes slid to an abrupt halt in the driveway and the girls leapt out. "Try the front door again, Mako-chan!" Usagi urged. "Yuji could be waiting for you on the other side!"

The still-skeptical brunette responded with a non-committal shrug. "Sure. Why not?"

"There's a flashlight in the glove box" Rei remembered. "I'll go get it." She returned to her car while the other girls ran up the steps and waited for Makoto to elbow the door open for the second time that day. But on this occasion it swung inward easily, without any noise or resistance at all.

Usagi took a single timid step into the gloom, then spied a thick cobweb and its eight-legged creator dangling from a long silvery thread nearby. She quickly sprang back, her face pale. "Uh uh! _Forget it!"_ She shivered, "Way too creepy for me in there!"

The odango-haired blonde decided it would be much more prudent to call to the boy and have him come out instead. She took a deep breath then yelled, _"Ito Yuji! Yuji-chan, is that you? It's Usagi! Your Mako-chan is here!"_

"Why did she make it sound like she's delivering a package?" Makoto snickered to herself.

There was no response to Usagi's question from within the house, just a continuing eerie silence.

"Nani? Mako-chan, is that fiancee of yours deaf or something?" She frowned and tried again. _"Yuji-chan, answer me!_ If you're hiding somewhere, please _stop it!_ This is no time for fun and games! You know how nervous I always get in dark places!"

"Nervous? More like terrified." Rei had rejoined her friends and now clicked her flashlight on. "Minna, let's search for whoever it was Ami spotted. Follow me."

Usagi took a quick step back. "You go right ahead, Rei-chan. I think I'll... uh... check the backyard where it's nice and bright and there aren't nearly so many spiders."

"Coward!"

"Am not! Ami-chan, come with me. And stay really _really_ close!"

"Usagi-chan, If you wouldn't mind I'd like to see what it's like inside the-"

"There's just floors and walls and stuff! You can see it all later!" Usagi promised the curious blue-haired girl.

"Don't forget to hold little Usagi's hand, Ami-chan" the miko teased. "She may have a panic attack if as much as a single tiny grasshopper jumps out of the weeds in front of her."

 _"Ohh! You!"_ The blonde stormed off in an indignant huff with her demure friend obediently following behind.

"Minna, I think I'll stay outside too" Minako announced. "Looks way too crowded and dark in there for all three of us!"

"A house doesn't shrink just because the lights are off, Minako-chan!" Rei scoffed.

"I know that, silly! Besides, somebody should stay here to... um... guard the door."

"Why? The door isn't going anywhere."

"You know... in case there's a mouse or... maybe even a huge nasty rat, Rei-chan!" She quivered, "Mean, awful vicious things they are too! But don't worry, if it tries to get inside _I'll_ protect you from it."

"How? By running away screaming, no doubt" the raven-haired girl teased. "When it comes to mice or bugs you're just as bad as Usagi, Minako-chan."

"Minna, let's get this over with so we can go home" Makoto muttered with growing impatience. She still remained utterly unconvinced despite Ami's repeated insistance that she had indeed spotted someone. With the beam from Rei's flashlight leading the way, she strode calmly into the hallway with the miko. "Rei-chan, before we go any further, point your light down at the floor for a second, please."

The girl did so and her brunette friend examined the tracks they had left in the dust from their earlier visit. "Just as I thought. There's only two sets of footprints here. Both from our shoes, Rei-chan. If someone else is in this house, they must be floating around in thin air."

"Like a ghost!" Minako gasped from the doorway. She took a step back. _"Minna, be careful in there!"_

"Minako-chan, if there were any spirits present, don't you think I would've sensed them by now?" Rei reminded her. "This _is_ , or at least _was_ Mako-chan's home, not that evil haunted mansion you made us spend the night in last summer!"

"I did what?" the blonde puzzled.

"Even a spook wouldn't live in this filthy dump" Makoto grumbled, then took another step. "Let's keep going, Rei-chan. I want to get to the bottom of this for once and for all." The two girls continued into the living room, again finding no sign of life and hearing nothing but their own breathing and the occasional creak of an aging wooden floorboard that sagged beneath their low-heeled school shoes. Rei impulsively stepped over to the piano, spread her fingers and struck a loud chord on its yellowing keys.

The reaction from the girl lurking on the other side of the front door was immediate and just as she expected. _"Aaahhh! Noise!"_

"That was me!" Rei turned and yelled. "Calm down, Minako-chan!"

"Oh! Gomen!" her friend giggled. "I knew that was you! Mice can't play the piano!"

"We may as well try the kitchen next, I suppose" Makoto mused, her words echoing back to her from drab, barren walls. "Which way is it, Rei-chan?"

"Which way to the kitchen, Mako-chan? That's rather ironic. You still have absolutely no memory of this place, do you?" Rei continued on, swinging her flashlight's yellow beam from side to side and carefully probing every corner of the dining room and musty downstairs bathroom as they progressed ever deeper into the abandoned dwelling. "Nothing so far."

Reaching the kitchen, the teens discovered it a total shambles. Pots, pans, broken plates and cracked bowls littered much of the floor, while the refrigerator sat empty and dark opposite the stove, its door left wide open and sagging on its hinges. A row of barren cupboards stood vacant nearby. "Almost looks like Usagi got here before we did" the miko remarked with a smirk.

Makoto peered at the light floral pattern hanging around them. "At least the kitchen wallpaper is nice. It's the only good thing I've noticed here so far."

"You _should_ like it, Mako-chan. You picked out that exact pattern at a home improvement store in Nerima last July, and Yuji and you spent an entire weekend painting and redecorating downstairs."

"We did?"

"Hai" Rei grinned. "In between your numerous _study_ sessions, of course. By the way, did Usagi tell you the _real_ meaning of that word?"

"She told Ami and Ami told Minako and I figured out the rest" Makoto chuckled. "Rei-chan, if the house looks nothing like you said it should, why is my wallpaper here?"

The miko frowned. "A _very_ good question, Mako-chan."

"Hmm... and here's another odd coincidence." Makoto reached across a countertop, retrieving a fragile but undamaged china cup that had caught her eye. She held it close to the flashlight for a better look. "I have this exact same rose design on a set of teacups in my apartment."

Rei's suspicions deepened. "That's because these _are_ yours, Mako-chan. The very same cups. You brought them here after Usagi and Minako ended up breaking half the dishware you inherited along with the house. That cup you're holding was the only one of the set that survived the earthquake intact."

The other girl disagreed with a firm shake of her head. "Impossible, Rei-chan. I used one of them just today for my morning tea. In any case, I'm sure my cups back in Tokyo aren't the only set that look like-"

 _"Taro-chan? Is that you?"_

Both girls instantly froze when a young male voice reached their ears from somewhere on the second floor. _"Nani?"_ The cup slipped from the startled brunette's fingers, clattering across the linoleum at her feet as she stared at her miko friend in stunned shock.

 _"Upstairs!"_ Rei blurted. _"Now!"_

She and Makoto ran as fast as they dared across the cluttered kitchen and on toward the curved staircase in the living room. "I thought if anyone _was_ here, it would be vagrants!" Makoto gasped. "But how would they know _that_ name?"

"It was definitely your fiancee's voice, Mako-chan!" Rei replied, following her jiggling beam down the hall, around the corner and into the living room. "I know it was!"

 _"So there really is a Yuji?"_

With a sudden burst of speed Makoto outran the flashlight's reach, thundering up the dark staircase only to discover the hallway in front of her deserted when Rei finally caught up.

"He has to be in one of the bedrooms!" the miko insisted. "Perhaps he's hurt himself and can't move!"

 _"Yuji!"_ the brunette bellowed. _"Ito Yuji!"_ But despite repeatedly calling his name and a frantic search of the four upstairs bedrooms, the fire-ravaged main bathroom and even a small linen closet, no trace of the boy could be found.

"Please tell me I wasn't imagining that" Makoto breathed in the near darkness.

"You weren't. I heard him too."

"Then where is he? We've searched every room." She growled, "The house isn't _that_ big!"

"I honestly don't know." Running out of ideas, Rei thought to ask, "Mako-chan, when Pluto contacted Usagi earlier, did she offer any clues to the nature of the problem with her Time Gate?"

"The sound from the communicator was all broken up just like Usagi said, Rei-chan. I do remember hearing the words 'must wait' but I don't know what she meant."

"That's all?"

"Let me think a minute... there _was_ one other strange thing I remember. I heard her say something that sounded like... anime."

 _"Anime?_ I wonder if..." Rei's indigo eyes abruptly widened in panic as Sailor Pluto's words suddenly fit together. "She was _warning_ us, Mako-chan! We've got to get out of here! _And the sooner the better!"_

 _"Nani?"_

"I'll tell you outside! _Go! Hurry!"_

At that instant, a strong blast of wind swept down the second floor hallway, filling the girls' nostrils with a thick, nearly choking cloud of dust.

Makoto coughed, "Where's _that_ coming from? The windows are all sealed shut!"

Covering their faces, the girls staggered downstairs, rushing toward the front door and a fading ray of evening sunlight trickling in from beyond.

. . . . .

In an unseen dimension known only to the Guardian of Space and Time, Sailor Pluto diligently continued her work, struggling valiantly to make things right amid the swirling multicolored mists that surrounded her. Beside the Senshi stood her Gate, until the previous night successfully holding in check a maze of infinite pathways which lead to uncountable dimensions and increasingly bizarre alternate universes.

A sudden massive burst of energy from a single ordinary star, around which orbited a world where the Sailor Senshi existed only as ink and film and imagination, had allowed that particular fantasy to briefly overwhelm the ancient Gate's defenses. In the space of a single, fateful hour it trespassed uninvited into Pluto's domain, and instilled itself like a virus upon the timeline it was her sacred duty to protect.

Her staff again surged with power as she continued her battle, gradually pushing back the unwelcome intrusion and correcting a past history which several of the younger Senshi were now experiencing. A very different and altogether unpleasant reality where three young hearts existed to their very last days without ever finding true love. A reality which simply did not belong in her universe and, the Senshi of Pluto vowed, would be reversed no matter what the cost.

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

Minako sprang away from the entrance as her friends ran outside. "What happened?" She gasped, _"Were there mice?"_

 _"Forget the stupid mice!"_ Rei yelled, relieved to see Usagi and Ami returning from their stroll in the backyard. _"Minna, get in the car!"_

The puzzled teens clambered aboard and Rei hastily backed the convertible away from the building. "We've got to get clear!" Reaching the road, she gunned her Mercedes east towards Nerima.

"Would somebody mind telling me what's going on?" Usagi muttered while she fastened her seatbelt. "Why the big rush all of a sudden, Rei-chan?"

"Rei-chan, stop the car _this instant!_ I _refuse_ to go anywhere without my Taro!" Minako insisted. "I won't leave my true love behind! Even having an invisible fiancee is better than being alone!"

"Taro isn't here, Minako-chan! At least not yet!" the miko shot back. "But he and Yuji may soon be if Pluto's work is successful. If my hunch is correct, we need to stay away from everything that's visibly wrong with this reality of yours. Including your house, Mako-chan."

After she had travelled several kilometers, Rei pulled to the side of the road and parked. "This should be far enough, I hope. At least we've lost sight of the house."

"Far enough for what?" Usagi puzzled.

"Sailor Pluto said she was trying to fix the problem with her Time Gate, didn't she?"

"Hai" the odangoed blonde nodded. "So?"

"I think I realize now what the problem is. Usagi-chan, you and I are the only ones here who still remember that afternoon in Mamoru's apartment when Setsuna showed us video of an anime from another dimension."

"That anime about us? With the catchy song and everything? Sure, I remember it. But what does that have to do with-"

"Shut up and listen! I'm convinced that somehow that story interfered with the lives of the other girls while they slept last night. The memories Ami and Minako and Mako-chan described to us are very similar to the clips we watched. No, not similar" she corrected herself. "Identical."

"Oh! I get it! So Setsuna is trying to get rid of that anime's influence in _our_ world, and make everything normal again!"

"Exactly, Usagi-chan. What Mako-chan and I witnessed inside the house just now is merely the beginning" Rei continued. "And the change seems to be occuring more rapidly now. Mako-chan, if we were still in your house when Pluto's changes fully take hold, who knows what would happen? You and Ami and Minako may end up trapped in this life forever, with no chance of getting your past lives and memories back. Or maybe even something far worse."

"What past life would that be, Rei-chan?" Ami questioned the miko. "I'm well aware that Usagi and you seem to be living quite differently than you were yesterday. But I'm not." She breathed a wistful sigh. "This is the only existence I've ever been aware of."

"It isn't really, Ami-chan. And trust me, the life you _don't_ remember living is the one I'm sure you'd be a lot happier in."

"Kissing your Ryo, I bet!" Minako tittered, puckering her lips and making her shy friend's cheeks redden.

"Hai! And a whole lot more!" Usagi laughed. "Always studying, every chance you get! That's you and Ryo, Ami-chan!"

Ami sank lower in her seat, the blush behind the shy teen's hopeful smile growing ever deeper.

"So what you're telling us is, Pluto's repairs to her Time Gate are what's behind those coincidences we noticed?" Makoto asked the miko, a fresh glimmer of hope returning to the brunette's voice.

"That's right, Mako-chan. It all fits together. Ami feeling unwell then spotting Yuji at the house, the wallpaper in your kitchen, that cup you found, when we heard Yuji's voice... all those things are signs that Sailor Pluto is gradually reversing the changes made to your past lives. And at the rate it's increasing, it hopefully won't be very much longer until everything is just the way it used to be."

Minako had been listening intently to Rei's theory and suddenly clasped her hands together in sheer joy. "My Taro is coming back to me? Rei-chan, I _so_ hope you're right!" Her blue eyes gazed upward into the equally-bright blue sky in anticipation. _"Sailor Pluto, wherever you are, please don't fail us now!"_

"I hope I'm right too!" Rei laughed. "I kind of miss all those crazy antics you and Taro kept getting into. But at least for the moment, all we can do is sit tight and wait for her to complete her work."

"Nani? We have to stay out here in the middle of nowhere? Without any _food?"_ Usagi grumbled, "For how long?"

"I'm not sure. It could take minutes or maybe even hours, Usagi-chan. Please try to be patient."

 _"Hours? Ohh! I haven't eaten since forever!"_

"And in the meantime we should watch the other girls closely. If their old memories return all at once, it may be a big shock to their minds."

"Ok! I can do that!"

Usagi promptly fixed Makoto with an unblinking gaze until the brunette eventually muttered, "Stop staring at me like that, Usagi-chan! I'll tell you _if and when_ I feel any different!"

"Gomen! But just think, Mako-chan. Soon you'll have your Yuji back!"

A smile spread across Makoto's lips. "Ito Yuji. I really like that name."

"You love the boy it goes with too" Usagi grinned. "So very much. You and he were made for each other." She sighed happily, "Just like me and my Mamo-chan."

"Since we have time to kill, tell me more about him, Usagi-chan. And this time, leave out the intimate stuff!"

"And then tell me more about my Taro!" Minako exclaimed. "But I want to hear everything! _Especially_ the intimate stuff!"

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" Rei muttered. "Minako-chan, if someone overheard us talking about how you and Taro behave together, we could be arrested!"

"Really?" the blonde giggled. "Minna, I think I'm going to _love_ my new old life!"

The miko chuckled, "Ami however is a different matter. I don't mind giving _her_ all the intimate details of her love life."

"Hai!" Usagi cackled evilly. "Let's see just how much we can make her blush, Rei-chan."

Upon hearing this, the shy blue-haired teen sank even lower in her seat.

"Back off, you two" Makoto warned. "Don't go picking on Ami. Just leave her alone. I guess we don't need to hear anything else about our past lives anyway. We'll remember it ourselves if what Rei said actually does happen."

"There _is_ one thing I'd really like to know, Usagi-chan" Ami shyly asked the blonde beside her. "Does Ryo visit me often in my _real_ life, since you said he'll be living here in Tokyo again?"

" _Visit_ you?" Usagi chuckled. "Ami-chan, he _lives_ with you! Except for every once in a while when he spends an evening with his parents, he always stays over at your house. Even most of his belongings and clothes are there."

"He _does?"_ she exclaimed, then hastily added, "Well, we _do_ have a guest bedroom, so I must assume he-"

"You _still_ aren't getting it, Ami-chan" Rei interrupted her. "Ryo doesn't use the guest bedroom. He sleeps with you. In _your_ bed." Rei spoke more slowly to emphasize the point. "And you 'study' together... _each..and...every...night."_

 _"Oh my!"_

Minako looked at Ami and laughed, "Minna, that's the face of a _very_ happy girl!" She opened her door, stepped out of the Mercedes and began walking around it. "I need to stretch my legs while we wait."

"Why? My car isn't comfortable enough for you?"

"I bet mine's even nicer, Rei-chan!"

"Ha! That little orange pumpkin you always drive like a maniac? Be serious, Minako-chan."

"Well! At least _I_ can..." She abruptly grabbed the door to steady herself. "Oh... I feel... _so dizzy_..."

The other girls looked on in shock as the blonde abruptly collapsed, fainting on the roadway beside Rei's convertible.

 _"Rei-chan!"_ Usagi gasped in alarm. _"Minako just passed out!"_

"I can see that, baka!"

Usagi's head spun from side to side. "And Ami and Mako-chan are asleep now too! Ohh! This is bad!"

"Perhaps not, Usagi-chan. Maybe they have to be unconscious for their lives and memories to revert to normal." Rei swung open her door. "We can't leave Minako laying there in the road like that. Help me get her back in the car."

"Hai!" Usagi began crawling across the nearly comatose Kino Makoto's lap. "Gomen, Mako-chan! I need to get past." She squirmed her way free and hurried to the miko's side. "Ok! How do we do this?"

"You take her left shoulder and I'll take her right, and we'll lift her back into her seat."

"Got it! Ohh, she's heavy!" With an overzealous tug Usagi tried raising the stricken girl, then staggered and lost her balance. Minako's head thumped against the side of the vehicle. "Oops! Hehe! I slipped!"

"Watch what you're doing, you imbecile!" Rei fumed. "You're going to dent my car if you're not more careful!"

"Forget about your stupid car, Rei-chan! Think of poor Minako! Anyway, I'm not used to carrying her like this. These things happen!"

"Do they? Do you make a hobby out of hitting unconscious people on the head, Usagi-chan? Look, I don't want your clumsiness causing injury to a dear friend, so try not to mess up again!"

"Fine!" The blonde fretted, "I hope she isn't hurt."

"If Minako wakes up with a bad headache, I'll tell her why."

"Don't you _dare_ do that!"

Eventually the girls managed to prop Minako up in the passenger seat and Rei fastened the safety belt around her for good measure. "Done." She returned to her place at the wheel while Usagi squirmed around Makoto again and retook her spot in the center. The sky above them began to change color, reddening as the early-autumn twilight neared. "All we can do now is wait for the girls to regain consciousness" the raven-haired girl mused. "Then we'll know if Pluto succeeded."

 _"More_ waiting?" Usagi groaned. "This is getting really boring! What if we're stuck here all night? I could waste away from starvation!"

"If that's what it takes, then so be it." Rei ordered her hungry companion, "Tell me the instant you notice either of them waking up, Usagi-chan. And don't _you_ go dozing off in the meantime."

"Hai, I'll let you know" the blonde nodded. "Uh... Rei-chan? Can I ask you something?"

"What's on your mind? Apart from those two ridiculous odango of yours, I mean?"

"I was just wondering about that whole anime thing. Setsuna told me that she watched a lot more of it than the clips she allowed us to see. She kind of hinted that some really bad things happened later on but wouldn't tell me what they were. Do you think we'll have to live through even more trouble and fighting?"

"Maybe. And maybe not. Setsuna said that our lives are much happier here in reality than they were in that story, Usagi-chan. The best we can do is hope that they remain that way. Even with all her incredible powers" she mused, "Setsuna can't possibly know with exact certainty what really lies ahead... for any of us."

"I suppose not... but can't _you_ predict even a little of what's going to happen? You know, with all that Shinto mumbo jumbo you do?"

"First of all, it _isn't_ mumbo jumbo! And second, I'm a miko, not a fortune teller!" her friend muttered. "Usagi-chan, all we can do is live our lives one day at a time, try doing the very best we can, and let the future take care of itself. That's what Grandpa always says is the right thing to do. Don't go looking for more trouble."

A sudden vivid flash of light low in the western sky eminated from beyond the hill they were parked behind. Usagi bolted upright in panic. _"Nani? What was that?"_

"It has to be Sailor Pluto's doing" the miko calmly spoke. "When we visit Mako-chan's house again, I believe we'll find it just as we left it last weekend." Rei smiled, "The way it was _meant_ to be."

. . . . .

 _"Rei-chan!_ I think the girls are waking up!"

Thirty minutes had passed since that mysterious glow briefly appeared far behind the Mercedes, and Usagi worriedly watched Ami's eyelids flutter open while Makoto and Minako also began to stir.

"Ami-chan! Speak to me!"

"Oh... hi, Usagi-chan."

"Ami-chan, do you remember where we are?" Rei quizzed the teen. "Or why we're here?"

"Hai. I do. It's really quite strange, Rei-chan. I still have a somewhat hazy recollection of what happened earlier today, and now I can recall everything I should from my past life as well."

"Time for a test!" Usagi decided. "I know you love taking those! Ami-chan, who is Urawa Ryo?"

"He's my fiancee, of course" the blue-haired girl responded with a bright smile. She held out her left hand. "Minna, look! My engagement ring is back!"

"She passed it, Rei-chan" Usagi grinned. "As usual. With another perfect score!"

. . . . .

Hino Rei's red Mercedes eased into the driveway of a familiar old house just a few minutes later, and parked near an earthen bed overflowing with fragrant, colorful flowers. Two teenage boys stood smiling happily near the front door, and two overjoyed girls, a blonde and a brunette, leapt from the car and rushed headlong into the warmth of their waiting arms.

. . . . .

Epilogue:

Outside a quiet coffee shop deep in the heart of Juuban, commuters and students bustled past on their way to work or school. Behind one of the establishment's windows, a weary young woman sat alone in silent contemplation.

Meiou Setsuna nodded in polite thanks to the waitress that brought her coffee, added a little extra sugar and slowly began stirring the mixture together with a thin wooden stick.

"Hey, Sets. Thought I'd find you here. How's life in the big city these days?"

She looked up to see Haruka grinning at her, with Michiru close by her side. The new arrivals pulled out chairs and joined the greenish-haired girl.

"Life? It's been... interesting, Haruka-san" Setsuna replied.

"Has it? No offense, but you seem rather worn out on such a fine Tuesday morning" Haruka chuckled. "Wild night?"

"You have _no_ idea." Setsuna gently placed her stir-stick on a napkin. "How was your weekend concert in London, Michiru-san? A resounding success, I trust?"

"The performance went very well. Very well indeed. Arigatou, Setsuna-san."

"Michi-chan met up with some old musician acquaintances of hers and we had a great time" Haruka added. "Didn't we, lover?"

"Did you just get back?" Setsuna asked the couple.

"Our flight landed late last night" the violinist replied. "But the change in time zones played havoc with my sleep patterns, Setsuna-san. I was wide awake during the entire return trip. As was Haruka, who amused herself watching dreadful movies about car chases and bank robberies or some such."

"I see." Setsuna smiled, "Thinking of starting a new career, Haruka-san? A life of crime, perhaps?"

"Not really" Haruka answered with a chuckle. "I'm not that kind of girl." She summoned the waitress, ordered coffees for herself and her partner, then lowered her voice and leaned closer. "So, what happened while we were away? Senshi trouble?"

"There _was_ a somewhat significant issue with several of the girls, but it's all taken care of now" the young woman across the table responded, her reply still heavy with fatigue.

"Great!" Haruka sat back and grinned, "Sets old girl, you really should catch up on your sleep. You look really beat!"

"I was intending on doing exactly that" she nodded. "Just as soon as I can find the time."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


End file.
